Neil Balnaves, the Australian arts philanthropist and former television executive, has died aged 77 after a boating accident.
Leading figures from the arts industry have paid tribute to Balnaves as a man who had a vision to “create a better Australia”.
The Balnaves Foundation released a short statement on Tuesday, confirming his death.
“The Balnaves family sends their heartfelt thank for people’s kind words and wishes and kindly requests privacy at this difficult time,” it said.
Balnaves was reportedly holidaying with his wife, Diane, near Tahiti when the accident occurred.
Balnaves had a successful career in TV, running Southern Star production house and producing popular shows, including Big Brother, Bananas in Pyjamas, Water Rats and McLeod’s Daughters.
After a string of successes, he became chair of the Ardent Leisure Group – which runs theme parks such as Dreamworld on the Gold Coast – from 2003 until 2016.
After a boating accident on the Gold Coast in 2002, which almost killed him, Balnaves became an avid philanthropist. He gave away $20m of his fortune to arts organisations.
“As you can imagine, I had a lot of time to think throughout this period,” he told the Advertiser in 2011.
“And what I came to was this: How many more houses do I need? Do I want the jet plane? Do I want another yacht? Not really.
“There comes a time when those things stop meaning so much to you.”
Guardian Australia was just one of the beneficiaries of his philanthropic foundation, which also donated to Sydney’s Ensemble and Belvoir Street theatres, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia, the Adelaide festival and Bangarra Dance Theatre.
The foundation gave a grant to Guardian Australia for in-depth reporting on Indigenous affairs, and an in-depth reporting project on Australian arts.
Guardian Australia editor, Lenore Taylor, said: “When I was first exploring the idea of philanthropy as a means to speed Guardian Australia’s expansion and extend our reporting into new areas, it was often difficult to incorporate our absolute requirement for complete editorial independence with the usual way grants were structured.”
“Neil and his son Hamish immediately understood and their generous grants have provided a template for further philanthropic projects, with philanthropy now an accepted model for media companies to undertake reporting above and beyond their current capacities. The Balnaves Foundation grants have funded two ongoing multiple award-winning streams of journalism, in Indigenous investigations, and culture reporting.”
The Balnaves Foundation also funded Indigenous and health research.
Balnaves is survived by his wife, Diane Balnaves, who he married in 1971, and his children, Hamish and Victoria. Sadly, their eldest child, Alexandra, died in 2019 following a long illness.
In a statement Mark Kilmurry, artistic director of Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre, which is sponsored by the foundation, remembered Balnaves as a great friend.
“Yesterday afternoon we were informed of the shocking and terribly sad news of Neil Balnaves’ fatal boating accident while on holidays,” Kilmurry said.
“Neil Balnaves, through the Balnaves Foundation, was not only a major sponsor of Ensemble Theatre but he became a great friend and supporter.
“Neil had a vision to create a better Australia through education, medicine and the arts, especially First Nations artists, and was never afraid to stand up for what he believed in,” Kilmurry said.
Kilmurry described Balnaves as a champion for the creative community, not just with his philanthropy but his personal passion for the arts.
“We will miss his generous and fearless spirit,” he said.
People from Australia’s arts community paid tribute to his life on social media.
“A believer in the importance and impact of the arts as an essential element of communities,” the CEO of Creative Partnerships Australia, Fiona Menzies, wrote on Twitter. “His philanthropy was generous and committed.”
Journalist and arts writer Ashleigh Wilson described Balnaves as a “tireless, visionary, inspiring advocate for the arts in Australia”.
“He believed in the transformational possibilities of culture and the power of storytelling. He’ll be greatly missed,” Wilson wrote.
